Texas veterans council seeks lawmaker support for ideas to help former troops

AUSTIN — A veterans council the Texas Legislature created is recommending that lawmakers support additional criminal-justice programs for veterans and allow certain military training to count for academic credit.

Those and numerous other suggestions for helping veterans are included in a report by the Texas Coordinating Council for Veterans Services.

"The challenges before us are significant," council chairman Thomas P. Palladino said in the report. "The end of combat operations in Iraq, a decreased military presence in Afghanistan, and force shaping measures announced by the Department of Defense in January 2012 are expected to swell the need and demand for veteran services."

An aging population of World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Gulf War veterans also demonstrates the need for coordinating veterans services, Palladino said. Texas is home to nearly 1.7 million veterans.

Despite state financial constraints, Texas has the opportunity to continue to lead the nation in assisting former troops, he said.

The coordinating council's report was issued Oct. 1 and is directed at the governor, lieutenant governor, House speaker and chairs of appropriate legislative committees. State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, sponsored legislation in 2011 creating the coordinating council.

Key recommendations in the report covered ground connected to all of the council's working groups.

The state should increase its commitment and support for the 211 information and referral network, the report said. It also recommended using the veterans' Web portal hosted by the Texas Department of Information Resources as a starting point for referrals to veteran services in Texas.

Veterans' health and mental health needs should be a priority of the criminal justice system, the council's report said. The Legislature should provide grant funding to local governments for expansion of the Jail Diversion and Trauma Recovery Program, according to the report.

Veterans should be able to receive academic credit for military training and experience that's "directly applicable" to a degree, certification or license the veteran is pursuing, another recommendation said.

State and local governments that employ veterans should assist them as they return to society after military service, the report said, adding that the Legislature should provide up to three weeks of "veterans leave" to returning state workers after combat deployment. Additional annual leave is suggested to help veterans make it to medical appointments and tend to other post-deployment business.

Other recommendations pointed out that many veterans need better access to transportation, and that state and local agencies need education and training on "the challenges faced by veterans coping with acquired brain injuries."

Working groups of the council focused on mental health, higher education, criminal justice, housing, employment and female veterans. Among their recommendations were improving health care and child care access for women. In addition to creating the coordinating council, Texas lawmakers passed several pieces of legislation to assist veterans in the 2011 session. Veterans issues are expected to get further attention in 2013. The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and Military Installations chaired by Van de Putte will soon issue its interim report.

One measure passed last year allowed the surviving spouses of totally disabled veterans to continue to obtain the deceased veteran's homestead property tax exemption. Texas voters approved the item as a state constitutional amendment.